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Javid ‘to broaden the apprenticeship levy into a wider skills levy’
Further tweaks to the apprenticeship levy look certain to be made in the autumn, when new chancellor Savid Javid is expected to deliver his first Budget. In his final Budget speech in October 2018, former chancellor Philip Hammond halved the amount small firms taking on apprentices had to pay from 10% to 5%. But Javid…
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Retailers unite in call for business rates solution
Some of the UK’s biggest retailers have come together to demand action is taken to revamp the business rates system. Business leaders from more than 50 companies wrote to chancellor Sajid Javid to ask for four changes. These include reforming transitional relief, which limits how much a bill can change following revalution. The letter also…
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Treasury to review tapered annual allowance as dispute rumbles on
The Treasury has announced it will review the tapered annual allowance for pensions, following calls to abolish it. The amount of pension contributions that can be made tax-free in 2019/20 stands at £40,000 in most cases, but this is restricted for higher earners by the tapered annual allowance. The taper applies to people with a…
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Update to post of 2nd August – Reverse charge VAT for builders delayed for 12 months
A major change to the way VAT is collected in the building and construction industry has been delayed until 1 October 2020. The domestic reverse charge VAT for construction services was due to take effect from 1 October 2019. It will put the onus on the customer receiving a service to pay the VAT element…
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Construction industry scheme – VAT and charges
Few sectors have such an impact in the UK as the construction industry. It not only provides the fabric of our nation – the places where we live and work – but also underpins our entire economy. In 2017, construction contributed £113 billion to the UK economy, while construction output increased by 14% in 18…
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Pensions – have you got enough to retire?
Are you on track for a comfortable retirement? All of us dream of the day we can retire, saying goodbye to the alarm clock and commute, filling our days with sun-soaked beach holidays, leisurely rounds of golf, or cruising the world. As delightful as that sounds, the days when people can retire at a certain…
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The buy-to-let saga
The Government is being urged to stop its crackdown on the buy-to-let market, following evidence showing the negative effects of a string of tax changes. The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders’ Association (IMLA) said recent changes are forcing some landlords out of the private rented sector. It found that landlords with one buy-to-let property made up just…
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Are you using your Gift allowances?
Fewer people should have to pay tax on gifts made to loved ones in the years before their death, according to the Office for Tax Simplification (OTS). Under the current rules, inheritance tax of up to 40% is paid when someone dies within seven years of making a gift. The OTS called on the Treasury…
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Childcare scheme – are you eligible ?
Employers are being advised to assist employees with covering the costs of childcare, with the school holidays in full swing. Parents who earn more than £131 a week and less than £100,000 a year are eligible for tax-free childcare. The scheme offers up to £2,000 a year towards a child under the age of 12,…
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Demand for digital skills on the up and up
Businesses could be set to face an increasing talent gap in the coming years as demand for digital skills continues to rise. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said 67% of UK firms currently have unfilled digital vacancies. Its Delivering Skills for the New Economy report also expected 95% of UK businesses to see demand…
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Calls grow for delay in extending IR35 to the private sector
Extending IR35 to the private sector could introduce “a complex web of new rules and liabilities throughout supply chains”. Medium and large companies in the private sector are set to be responsible for determining the tax status of contractors from April 2020. With that date looming, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has called…
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Businesses that flout their workplace pension duties face being subjected to random spot-checks by the Pensions Regulator. Employers that provide details to HMRC are having that data cross-referenced by the watchdog in an attempt to identify non-compliance with auto-enrolment. The checks are designed to identify businesses that are failing to enrol eligible staff into a…
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Most gifters are ‘unclear on inheritance tax rules’
Most people making gifts of money or assets are unaware of inheritance tax rules that might apply to them. HMRC polled 2,090 people and found that only 25% of those who recently made a gift had a working knowledge of the rules. Less than half (45%) were aware of the rules or exemptions surrounding inheritance…
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HMRC error affects payments on account bills for some taxpayers
Some taxpayers may not receive a bill for payments on account this month, and face paying a higher bill in January 2020. The Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) is advising individuals affected by an error with HMRC’s systems to set aside money to pay the bill in full. Most people who complete self-assessment pay their…
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Identifying inefficiencies in a business
Avoiding waste, maximising profit. Accountants, as a breed, are fans of efficiency. We tend to appreciate optimised systems and abhor waste, whether it’s time, effort or resources being frittered away. The concept of efficiency as we know it today is a product of the industrial revolution. That’s when engineers and manufacturers became obsessed with squeezing…
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The tapered annual pension allowance
How it affects high net-worth individuals. The tapered annual pension allowance for high net-worth individuals was in the headlines again recently. Concerns were raised that its impact on doctors within the NHS pension scheme is prompting high-earning NHS staff to leave their posts or reduce their hours. In December 2018, it was reported that the…
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The scourge of late payments
Outstanding invoices compromise your business’s cashflow. When you supply goods and services, you expect to be paid, and promptly, but Britain has a deeply embedded culture of late payments. Indeed, for some businesses, delaying payment is an essential part of the business model. Outstanding payments are problematic for various reasons. First, there’s the basic problem…
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Tax implications of working from home
Working from home offers all kinds of benefits, from the opportunity to create the perfect environment in which you can be most productive, to the improvements to work-life balance that come with ditching the commute. There are advantages for businesses, too, assuming they trust their employees to work without direct supervision. For example, if only…
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CBI: ‘Unsustainable’ business rates system in need of reform
The business rates system has become “uneconomical” and “unsustainable”, and should be reviewed, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has said. Business rates are a tax on most properties used for business purposes, and are calculated based on an estimate of the property’s open market rental value. The CBI argues that long gaps between rate…
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Govt. urged to introduce stamp duty tax break for downsizing
The Government is facing calls to announce a stamp duty holiday for homeowners who seek to downsize. Saga polled 2,000 people over the age of 50 and found that 73% would support a tax break to help them move into a smaller property. Almost three-quarters (70%) said their motivation for downsizing was because their current…
